The Pittsfield (Mass.) High School band was interested in participating in a music competition in Quebec City, Canada. The bus rental expense alone was $4,600. Raising the money appeared to be a time-consuming task that would reduce the students’ time improving their musical and other academic skills and could fail anyway.

Fortunately, there was a win-win solution for the students — a program called Help Keep Music Education Alive. The program is the brainchild of music promoter Paul Lococo, who organizes BeatleMania concerts featuring four musicians who imitate Beatles’ George Harrison, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, and Ringo Starr. The BeatleMania Stage Show performs at theaters, festivals, stadiums, fundraisers, private parties, dinner theaters, and corporate events.

Lococo’s solution called for the BeatleMania Stage Show to raise money for music education programs at performances that included joint performances by the four “Beatles” and the school bands themselves. In other words, bands in communities in places like Pittsfield; Westfield, Mass.; Barnstable, Mass.; and Manchester, N.H. have been given the opportunity to perform in public with professional musicians.

The concerts include four acts. The “Beatles” change their dress and appearance for each act. Each act represents an aspect of the Beatles’ development. Act I, Coming To America, represents the Beatles in 1964, and includes songs like “I Want To Hold Your Hand. Act II, called Growing and Changing, features the Beatles in 1965 and 1966 and includes their singing “Help!” Act 3, called Psychedelia, and Act 4, called End of An Era, represent the Beatles in 1967 and 1968-1969 respectively.